Lionis Sylvanus

Lionis Sylvanus

Lionis was born on the planet Caliban. A medieval world in a region of space where the barrier between real space and the Warp was quite, Caliban was plagued by constant daemonic attacks as well as wild psychics - often called witches. Caliban was covered with vast dark forests where the power of Chaos was particularly strong. These forests teemed with terrifying monsters, daemons, and witches - even the trees themselves seemed to take on a twisted and evil aspect. In the nation into which Lionis was born, only the Order, a society of knights sworn to protect the realms of men, kept humanity safe. 

Lionis grew up a peasant boy in one of the villages that border one of the dark forests. In such a place, every young boy dreams of one day growing up to join the Order, for it is those brave men who stand between them and utter destruction or worse. As a young boy, Lionis had the ability to sense danger and the approach of daemons and monsters, an ability that some considered witchcraft. Though ultimately his power allowed him to save the lives of his fellow villagers, warning them of the approach of monsters of the forest. On hat dark night, Lionis, a boy of only ten, not only warned his village of the daemon’s approach, but picked up an axe and fought those monsters to protect his family. Lionis’ ability to sense the presence of evil creatures, his courage, and his prowess in battle all attracted the attention of the knights of the Order. 

Lionis was accepted as a page into the Order and soon advanced to squire and then to full knight, being one of the youngest ever to become a full knight of the Order at the age of 17. Young and hansom, Lionis and tall and strong, with beautiful features, long and flowing sandy blond hair, and piercing green eyes. At his knighting ceremony, Lionis was given the name of Lionis Sylvanus - Lion of the Forest - for his bravery and willingness to venture forth into the dark woods to do battle with creatures of evil. It was in the Order that Lionis would meet an older knight by the name of Luther would become the most important person in Lionis’ life. 

Luther was a knight of great renown, 15 years Lionis’ senior, and quickly moving up within the ranks of the Order. It was thought by many familiar with Luther’s exceptional abilities that he would eventually become Grand Master of the Order. Luther and Lionis immediately became fast friend when they met and Luther became a mentor to his young protege Lionis. By Luther’s side, Lionis learned many things - fighting, recognizing witches and the dark magics, the history of the order, and even courtly politics. Side by side, the two brave knight lead their brethren against countless creatures of the night and were always victorious. Their friendship as well as their valor became the stuff of legends. 

As the two knights became closer and closer with the passage of time, their friendship blossomed into something more than the relationship between two battle brothers or mentor and student. The knight became lovers. On Caliban and especially within the Order, homosexuality was seen as something vile and shameful, a vice that no true man would suffer from much less a knight of the Order. If the truth of their relationship were to come known, the two secret lovers would find themselves cast out of the Order and possibly killed for the shame they brought their brother knights. Despite the dangers, the two men’s love and passion was too great to resist. They continued their relationship with none the wiser, continuing to fight together and rise within the ranks of the order. 

It was evident that Lionis surpassed the martial prowess of Luther at a relatively young age, but Lionis still looked towards the leadership of Luther and respected his seniority. At the age of 45, Luther was elevated to Grand Master of the Order and Lionis was his right hand. As Lionis grew older, his latent psychic powers grew stronger and more than merely being able to detect the presence of monsters of the forest, he could repel them or even destroy them with his mind. He found that even the most potent witches were unable to affect him with their spells and with the force of his will he could strike them powerless. Lionis only told Luther about these abilities and the two agreed that these were gifts from God and must be used for good, but that others who could not understand must not learn of these abilities either because they wouldn’t understand - just as they could not understand there love for each other. As it turned out, Luther possesses similar abilities and with the help of Lionis he unlocked the ability to sense creatures of evil as well as read other’s emotions and even share his thoughts with Lionis over great distances. 

For years the two knights enjoyed great happiness and containment together. Luther as Grand Master of the Order and Lionis as his might right hand. Luther was the masterful leader and Lionis the great warrior, together they were unstoppable and were able to purge many dark forests of all daemonic taint and with Lionis’ psychic abilities, he could even close off gateways from which daemons could escape - saving the lives of thousands and ensuring the safety of thousands more. None suspected the dark secrets which the two lovers kept hidden.

This relative time of happiness was interrupted by the arrival of the God Emperor of Mankind. The God Emperor told the people of Caliban that they are but one planet of millions in the vast galaxy of which he ruled, that he had come for Lionis and was going to raise hi up to be a great general in a battle for he survival of humanity. Lionis and Luther were both amazed by this, but were hesitant to leave because they had a duty to Caliban and would never leave each others’ sides. The Emperor dispatched his armies across Caliban and with their advanced weapons combined with the Emperor’s psychic might, they were able to purge Caliban of virtually all daemonic influence in a matter of months. After this amazing display of power, the two knights knew that they must go and seek a higher destiny. Luther left another senior knight to command the Orer in his stead and took a few hundred of the most elite knights to accompany them on the Emperor’s ship.

As a great general under the Emperor, the roles they had each occupied for so many years were reversed. It was Lionis who commanded and Luther who was to serve. The Emperor made this very clear that Luther may advise, he was not to lead. Luther, always a proud man, much disliked being forced to become subordinate to his student. But he knew that this was or a greater cause and he bore it with silent dignity. Lions quickly learned modern combat and became an even more accomplished warrior and even a tactician now that leadership was open to him. He designed his own legion of soldiers, incorporating close combat techniques of the Order with advanced power armor and high tech weaponry. Luther, on the other hand, had trouble adapting to this new new and strange technologies. His martial prowess had waned with age and his ability to learn to use technology seems limited. What was worth, his once great leadership skills seemed useless in battles where millions must be commanded across great gulfs of space via technology and his battle plans and advice were next to useless. 

These things all damaged his pride, but Luther could endure these these, knowing that to some extent it was the curse of age, if he could stand by Lionis’ side. Unfortunately, the two dear friends and lovers soon began to grow apart. Lionis never seemed to have time for Luther’s affections, even though they had greater opportunity for privacy now than ever before. Lionis increasingly sought to spend time with other advisers who were more useful as well as the Emperor himself. As Luther felt increasingly useless, Lionis increasingly treated him that way too. In time Lionis treated Luther as no more than an acquaintance and a subservient one at that. At one planning meeting in which both men as well as many other soldiers and leaders were in attendance, Lionis openly made disparaging jokes about Luther’s age and technological incompetence. Such an outrage was too great to bear and he stormed away to his room, tears streaming from his eyes. He returned to his quarters and hoped that Lionis would come soon to apologize. He waited all through the night and Lionis never came. What did come was a message from an intermediary, commanding Luther to return to Caliban with a small retinue of men and to protect the planet from possible daemonic incursions. Luther had been humiliated and now he was utterly crushed. He did as he was commanded and returned to Caliban. 

With Luther gone, Lionis seemed to forget about him. He became an increasingly skilled warrior and tactician, and became known as a great warrior who commanded not thousands of knights, but armies of millions. Lionis continued to have an intense hatred of witchcraft as he had on the planet Caliban and a distrust of psychics even though he was one. He was particularly mistrustful of Magnus and Leyna, whom he suspected were no better than witches themselves. It was Luther who eloquently argued against the use of Warp sorcery against Magnus and convinced the Emperor that it was too dangerous.

As Lionis made a name for himself as a champion of the God Emperor, Luther brooded in relative isolation on Caliban. The monstrous incursions were occupationally rare and much of the planet had become technological developed. He didn’t even recognize his own home anymore. Farmers n longer used oxen to plow their field, but had mechanical tractors, the knights of the Order carried rifles. Luther felt abandoned by the universe. Luther had been abandoned by Lionis, cast out like garbage. His despair turned to anger and thoughts of anger to revenge. As he brooded began to hear whispers at the edge of his consciousness, almost imperceptible suggestions as to how to avenge himself on those who had taken Lionis from him. Luther began to listen more closely, realizing that it was daemons who were making contact with him, daemons whose voices could still pierce the veil between the Warp and Caliban. Luther began to consider their words.

They told him of ancient demonic rituals and spells locked away in the vaults beneath the Order’s great castle headquarters. Rituals practiced by the witched of ancient Caliban and could release great power and unlock Luther’s psychic potential. making him a warlock of immense power, strong enough to strike down the Emperor and to command Lionis’s respect and reignite his love. Nearly mad with grief, Luther agreed to the daemons’ requests and went beneath the castle to gather the forbidden scrolls. Deep within the dark woods, Luther a ritual among ancient standing stones where countless sacrifices had been committed through the ages. As he completed the ritual, the power of the Warp was unleashed upon Caliban as numerous gateways opened and daemons poured through. Luther accepted the daemonic power into him, in fact a greater daemon who had been speaking to Luther entered his body, its essence becoming one with Luther, making Luther into a being of immense power - unleashing all of his long suppressed psychic potential and combining it with the immeasurable power of the daemon. Luther had gone from being a man, to being a god. 

Luther used his new powers to corrupt the people of Caliban, forcing them to serve the powers of Chaos. Even the bold knights of the Order could not stand before him. Those who could resist were killed, those who could not were commanded to allow lesser daemons into their bodies to become beings such as Luther. Caliban had become a world of daemons and Luther was its ruler.

Across the vast expanses of space, Lionis felt what had happened to Caliban and immediately commanded that his flag ship go there so that he could right the terrible wrong that had occurred there. As Lionis and his soldiers landed on the planet, they were confronted by Luther and the knights of the Order, now possessed by daemons, their mortal forms twisted and deformed, though more powerful than could be imagined. With a thought, Luther sent terror into the minds of Lionis’ legions and many ran or collapsed into quivering heaps. Lionis stood firm, his power protecting his and his closest men from Luther’s dark powers.

The love that Luther once felt for Lionis melted away, replaced by rage, in no small part because Luther’s mind was no longer truly his own. Luther struck out and Lionis with both his mystical power and his supernaturally enhanced body. The two former lovers fought then, a mighty battle with both sword and mind, tearing apart the landscape as they did so. The battle raged for hours until at last, Lionis focused all of his psychic might at Luther, stunning the daemonic aspect of the abomination he had become and allowing him to strike a fatal blow. As Lionis’ sword pierced Luther’s heart, the greater daemon faded back into the Warp from whence it had come, leaving Luther’s mortal by to die. 

As luther lay dying, he resumed his once mortal form. Lionis saw this and ran to his old mentors side and picked him up in his arms. 

“Forgive me Lionis” gasped Luther. “Forgive me my love, I was mad with grief, I should have taken my life rather than unleash such evils upon our world. I could not live without your love.”

As Luther breathed his last breaths, Lionis came to realize how despicable his behavior had been in abandoning his friend, mentor, and lover. In mocking him in front of others. In sending him away without even a word of farewell.

“No, it is I who am sorry. It is all my fault.” Said Lionis as his eyes met Luther’s, both men feeling once again that love that once so closely bound them together. Links leaned down and gave Luther a kiss upon the lips just before Luther’s life force finally ebbed away entirely. Lionis moaned with grief as Luther died in his arms. 

Just at that moment, some even more terrible occurred. With his psychic powers, Lionis felt Luther soul leaving his body, being drawn out into the Warp within the psychic talons of the daemon who had made the pact with Luther - payment for giving him so much power. Lionis screamed this time and rage and terror and his lover’s soul was ripped away, damned forever. Lionis vowed that he would not let this happen, he fought with al of his might but he was not strong enough to hold onto Luther soul. He was able, however, to allow himself to be dragged  along with it, the force of the struggle tearing another hole in the fabric of reality, already perilously thin on Caliban. As he entered the Warp, Luther vowed the he would not return to the mortal realms without rescuing Luther soul.

With this final and greatest gateway into the Warp opened, the entire planet of Caliban began to shake and warp and the warp energies broke down the very laws of physics which held the planet together. Thzplanet seems to collapse in upon itself, massive parts of it getting sucked into the Warp and other parts remained. The legions of Lionis were just able to escape in time. In ten thousand years none has seen Lionis and most assume that he is dead, claimed by the same daemons which have the soul of Luther. Some say though, that on occasion, a positive force from the Warp protects them from daemonic influence. Some say that this positive force is Lionis Sylvanus.